Hi case2005,
Thank you for a very interesting question.
Green Hunting is AKA non-consumptive hunting, darting safari, dart
hunting, eco hunting, green hunting, chemical capture, etc., etc.
The hunter can have adrenalin rush of a real-life encounter with a
wild animal but with a clear conscience at the end of it. While no one
gets to keep ?the kill? and mount it on their wall, the hunters still
describe it as the thrill of a lifetime.
In Africa, Hunters Pay to Tranquilize Game for Research
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/06/0616_030616_greenhunting.html#main
=======================
Pros:
=======================
"This novel way of bagging tusks and horns as trophies does not
involve death?it is supposed to help conserve precious lives. It is a
new kind of safari called "eco-hunting" or "green hunting," and it is
becoming an increasingly popular alternative to the old blood sport of
big-game hunting with a high-powered rifle.
Hunters, especially from the United States, are paying big money for
the thrill of this kind of hunting and bagging two of Africa's storied
Big Five: elephant and rhino.
Instead of a bullet, however, a dart is fired which tranquilizes the
animal and makes it sleep, long enough for veterinarians to draw blood
and other samples for their clinical work?and for the hunter to have
photographs or video to record a foot resting proudly on the quarry,
or standing beside the prone animal, rifle clutched across the chest.
In the case of elephant and rhino, the time the animal is asleep also
allows for a mold to be taken of the tusk or horn from which a replica
is made for the hunter to put up in his trophy room."
[edit]
"Game rangers and conservationists insist that the primary objective
should be game management and research. The idea indeed comes from the
older practice of sports fishermen paying to catch marlin and other
game fish which are then tagged and returned to the sea."
[edit]
"... that while the animal is down and the hunter is about his
business, the rangers and veterinarians quickly get on with their
tasks.
Blood samples get taken, and, if an elephant, a collar gets fitted for
tracing the animal's movements. A rhino would be earmarked and have a
microchip implanted in the horn as an anti-poaching device and a means
of identification when reclaiming an animal that has strayed onto
another property.
The animals are selected carefully. It could be an elephant matriarch,
as her movements and habits would reflect those of the herd; or it
could be a particularly impressive bull which is in musth, an
aggressive state associated with the rutting season, whose movements
could provide valuable information on breeding patterns.
A bull called Mac that was fitted with a satellite tracer in May last
year has produced some surprising insights into the distance it
roams."
[edit]
"... green hunting holds the further advantage of safeguarding big
tuskers, like those whose genes are important for maintaining the
strain. With real hunting, it is those with the big tusks that
normally get targeted, resulting in their gene line getting weaker and
weaker.
The response from conservation groups so far has been positive, says
Ronaldson. It is after all a case, he says, of killing two birds with
one stone: The hunter is happy and the research can be done. "With
real hunting there is always the mixed emotion. People say they want
to shoot an elephant, but when it is done and they see it lying dead,
there is the regret."
"With green hunting, the animal goes down, the hunter completes his
part of the bargain while the collar is fitted, the antidote is
administered, and the animal gets up and walks away. Everybody is
happy."
=======================
Cons:
=======================
"...if someone decided to have the same animal hunted over and over?
It goes down, staggers back to its feet, only to be brought down a
month or so later by another dart."
[edit]
"It may be preferable to killing, and it is not hard to recognize the
great potential it holds for research and game management, especially
with hunters paying for it. But what if it were to create just another
commercial bandwagon with the animals being used as unnecessary
targets? There has to be strict conditions and controls, he says.
[edot]
"A bad darting, for instance, could see an animal run for ten minutes
before going down. This could be critical in tracing it in the bush,
and in getting the antidote administered in time. It could even cause
the animal to turn on the hunting party, forcing the rangers to kill
it. "So there has to be questions about the hunter. Is he a good
stalker and marksman, or clumsy and trigger-happy?"
In the context of this particular form of hunting, says Zeller, one of
the key requirements is that there should always be a veterinary
surgeon present, not only to carry out the research aspects and to
resuscitate the animal, but also to assist in setting the conditions
for the hunt. This is particularly applicable in the case of
rhinoceros, which are prone to developing breathing problems under
sedation.
Gerhard Verdoorn, director of the Endangered Wildlife Trust, a
Johannesburg-based group with a mission to conserve the diversity of
plant and animal species in southern Africa, says there has actually
been a case of a rhino being darted five times in one year?"and that
is simply not on," he says.
As a conservation tool, he says, green hunting has its merits.
Unfortunately, he added, commercial hunters are getting in on the act,
and that spells nothing good."
[edit]
=======================
The bottom line
=======================
"The choice of animal is done on well-considered, scientific grounds,
he says. The hunter is selected by tender. The hunting party has to
include veterinarians to ensure the darting dosage is correct, to see
to the animal's health while under sedation, to ensure that the
required operations are carried out speedily and efficiently, and to
duly administer the antidote.
Experienced rangers need to be on hand to provide back-up in case an
animal turns on the hunting party, and there need to be trackers both
to find it and to follow it through the bush if it takes flight after
being darted. "By its very nature it is an intricate operation and
needs to be very carefully planned," says Ronaldson."
=========
Green Hunting
http://goafrica.about.com/library/weekly/green/aa040200c.htm
=======================
Pros:
=======================
"Green Hunting is an exciting alternative for hunters who wish to
enjoy the sport - and not necessary the kill - of hunting.
Its benefits include helping wildlife conservation by not killing the
animal you're aiming at, by helping capture an animal which will be
used in a breeding program, relocated to restock a wilderness area or
fitted with a GPS collar to help in research, and by the money you pay
for your trophy being ploughed back into conservation.
Choose the right company and you'll return home not only with a trophy
you can be proud of, but the knowledge that you've helped preserve a
small part of the great continent that is Africa."
=======================
Cons:
=======================
"There are always those who turn something good into something
distasteful. The chance to make thousands of dollars, again and again
from the same animal, is an opportunity which unscrupulous operators
are abusing by allowing the same animal to be darted more than twice a
year.
The South African Veterinary Service recommends that an animal be
darted no more than twice a year, preferrably only once. Repeated
darting stresses the animal and will result in its eventual premature
death. Repeated darting is, of course against the guidelines issued by
the Endangered Wildlife Trust in its Dart Safari Policy: "Only animals
that have to be immobilized for conservation, research or wildlife
management reasons should be made available for a Dart Safari."
South Africa's Rhino and Elephant Foundation is totally opposed to
Green Hunting ("how can it be controlled?")"
=========
Green Hunting - The Benefits of Green Hunting
http://www.save-the-elephants.org/protection_main.htm
=========
An excellent article on a Green (Dart) hunt for White Rhino can be
found at: A Rhino Hunt to Remember by Dave Clark
http://www.huntingreport.com/temp_a_rhino_hunt_to_remember_11_2004.cfm
"My initial concern that a dart hunt may not be as legitimate as an
actual kill were quickly resolved when I learned that darting has an
entire set of challenges not associated with a conventional hunt and
that the range necessary to dart a rhino was a fraction of the range
required to kill the animal with a large caliber high-powered rifle.
This results in a difficult and significantly more dangerous hunt, as
the "safety" of a very dangerous animal becomes paramount."
=========
An older article published in 1997 "Proposal for "Green Hunting" of
Elephants as an Alternative to Lethal Sport Hunting by Iain Douglas
Hamilton can be found at:
http://www.save-the-elephants.org/Green%20hunting%20article.htm
=========
More Resources and Links
http://goafrica.about.com/library/weekly/green/aa040200d.htm
=========
Best regards,
tlspiegel |
